The Pakistan National Council of the Arts has transformed its central lawns into an immersive sculptural landscape with the opening of In the Meantime, An Installation Garden, presenting Pakistan’s first large-scale curated outdoor installation garden and inviting the public to engage with art in an open civic setting.
The exhibition was inaugurated at PNCA in Islamabad by Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, with Ambassador of Switzerland Georg Steiner attending as a chief guest and Parliamentary Secretary Farah Naz Akbar as guest of honour. Ambassadors from the Czech Republic, China, the Philippines and Ethiopia were also present alongside Director General PNCA Muhammad Ayoub Jamali, senior PNCA officials, participating artists, cultural practitioners and members of the press.
Noor Fatima, curator of the project, said, “In the Meantime is an invitation to slow down and engage with space differently. By bringing contemporary installations into an open, public environment, the exhibition encourages reflection on time, material, and collective presence.” The Installation Garden aims to broaden how audiences encounter contemporary practice outside traditional gallery formats.
The Installation Garden features works by a diverse group of artists whose practices explore materiality, ecology and communal experience, including Abdul Jabbar Gull, Ain Tamkeen, Asjad Faraz, Azma Sarwar, Bilal Jabbar, Casim Mahmood, Ehtisham Jadoon, Faizan Naveed, Hafsa Nouman Qureshi, Hassan Ali, Hassan Mujtaba, Hassan Sheikh, Hidayat Marwat, Hussain Jamil, Imran Hunzai, Jamil Baloch, Maheen Riaz, Maha Sohail, Mishaim Gardezi, Muhammad Ahsan, Nazir Hunzai, Neele Ahmed, Nolwenn Keraudren, Rafiqullah Khan, Suleman Faisal, Tayyaba Idrees Qureshi, Ubaid Tariq, Waheed Latif, Yahya Khan, Zahid-ul-Haq and Zahra Jadoon.
The project underlines PNCA’s commitment to supporting large-scale experimental practices and fostering international and cross-cultural exchange through contemporary art. By situating installations in a publicly accessible setting, the Installation Garden encourages visitors to reflect, encounter and converse with art as part of everyday civic life and remains open to the public at PNCA in Islamabad.
